49 Year Paper Trail: 1970 Datsun 240Z
The thing about patina is you either love it or you hate it. I think it gives the car a personality that you just don’t get with perfect painted cars. It also adds to the uniqueness of this car which is sporting its original Monte Carlo Red paint. This Datsun was purchased new in Okinawa Japan by a U.S. Serviceman and was shipped back for a mere $80. Only 17,005 Datsun 240Z’s rolled off the block in 1970. And with only a few small areas of rust and an extensive paper trail, this Datsun certainly meant something to its past owners. I wish all classic cars had their history all wrapped up in a binder, but for many that is not the case. This 1970 Datsun 240Z can be found here on eBay in Calabasas, California with an asking price of $26,650 with the option to make an offer.
The seller states that the body does have dings and dents throughout which can easily be seen in the picture above. Normally I would be discouraged with dings and dents but I believe it adds to the cars character and originality. Other than a good cleaning the cars exterior remains virtually untouched. Even the original 1970 California license plate is included and still registered to the car.
The interior also remains mostly original and other than a cracked dash it appears to be in great shape. All of the knobs are there and according to the seller everything works. It has custom made German wool carpet to finish off the black interior. There isn’t a direct picture of the seats but the seller is willing to send anyone who’s interested more pictures. But from the angle we have, they seem to be in great shape along with the rest of the interior.
This little Datsun had a 21 year slumber in the backyard of one of its previous owners. The engine had around 188,000 miles on it when the current owner purchased it and had the engine entirely rebuilt. It is equipped with a 2.4L Inline-6 cylinder engine. Along with the rebuild, some routine maintinance was done to the brakes and suspension to make this 240Z ready to pound the pavement. The water pump, radiator, clutch and ignition system were all replaced. The Carburetor was rebuilt and a newly fabricated exhaust system was installed. The seller claims the cars handling and shifting is smooth. What more could you really ask for out of a car than that?
As stated in the title and the sellers description this Datsun has a paper trail all the way back to when the car was purchased new in Japan. From work receipts to times the owner filled up the gas tank. There can’t be too many 240Z’s with as much documentation as this one and I believe it definitley adds to the value. From the original paint, keys, interior, License plate and numbers matching rebuilt engine, would this not make a perfect weekend cruiser? Or could this be a unique investment opportunity?
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Comments
This car just sold on BaT for $17750 a few weeks ago. Flipper at work buyer beware.
And they’re using the BaT photos!
Patina—loosely translated as…I don’t want to spend any money on a proper repaint, so let’s coin an over-used word to mask, er…rephrase the fact that the vehicle has a complete loss of paint or needs a full repaint….”patina”…lol
But gloss clear over patina? Blech.
Read the eBay listing, there is no clear coat on….it is only buffed out and waxed.
Same result. Blech.
That’s not the original plate from 1970. My original 1970 Porsche 914 plate starts with 059. I think they all started with a 0 or 1 in ’70. First year of the blue and yellow plate. Not saying it’s not the first owner, just not the first license plate.
Cal plates go in order by letters. This one looks like BGK, which would probably be late 1970
Well my 1970 Porsche 911T had its original plates..blue and yellow and began 633, As I understand it, the earlier in the alphabet the succeeding three letters were, the earlier the car was registered. So in my case it was a B,,,,,meaning it was registered after a car with an A. The numbers were not the determinant of the time beginning in 1970 it was registered.
In any even I’m getting an itch for a 1970-1972 Z but not at this price needing a paint job though I appreciate the ownership trail.
Eric M, as others have said, the letter is what you look at, not the number. Of course there were more than 1000 cars sold in 1970.
1970 cars were issued the As and the Bs, generally. 1971 would have been closer to the Cs.
I wouldn’t call this guy a “Flipper”, he claims that he rebuilt the motor, did brake and exhaust work on a car that sat for 20+ years in the third owner’s back yard. If he really did that he needs to make a few bucks for it. It would have needed the gas tank and fuel lines cleaned out too. Plus who knows what other stuff happened in 20 years.
If Torqueandrecoil is right and it just sold here a couple weeks ago, the seller is REALLY fast, I wish I could do that, . . . . . or something about the story isn’t right. Buyer beware.
Joe, the names (‘handles’) of the seller and the buyer in the recent sale of this car were different. I think its unlikely that they were the same person and that the current Ebay seller did the work on the car.
The other possibility is that the recent buyer backed out and the original seller is reselling the car on a different platform (Ebay), in which case he might have rebuilt the engine.
Yes, flipper trying to make $10 grand or more. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t.
If I won the Ebay auction for this car I would end up being real annoyed because, altho the body looks pretty good in the photos providing you like real serious “patina”, there are a number of serious dents and some rust perforation along the left side of the body that will need to be pulled out / welded up by an experienced body man.
Then, not shown, on the right side of the car, the RR wheel well is badly distorted and will need metalwork and filler.
Then a complete repaint. Figure $10K to as much as $15 K depending on how good you want it to look when it’s done.
That’s why the car sold recently for under $18K when it should have sold for a lot more if it didn’t have those defects.
That said, it’s still worth good money because it’s mostly (but not totally) original, and it has a low, 1st year VIN.
Bottom line, you can buy this for just under $18K and put another whack of money into it to bring it up to the condition you want, and then you have a nice early Z car. I wouldn’t reject that approach, but you will still have to put decent money into it once you buy it.
Or, you could just buy a nice early Z car that needs nothing car for about the same money, and enjoy.
And BTW, if you go the bodywork / complete, quality paint job route, figure on paying yourself about 15 cents/hour if you do all the non-body/paint work on the car, or add another whack of money to the total cost if you hire a resto shop to do it for you.
The 240Z in this photo has sat in dry storage in the same spot for nearly 40 years. It was our Fathers car and bears the serial number 367 off the original production run. It was willed to my brother, who has too many projects. It’s all there & rust free. Would he sell it? Heavens no!
Sometimes, the heart and the mind don’t follow a practical path. Understood. Particularly where there is no personal infusion of cash, the logic of selling something just for money does not compute.
I am now coming to terms with a similar situation for a (not collectible) car my father (decade + gone now) bought new. It came to me through my older brother, with an issue which relegates many to the scrap yard. I fixed it, in 2012. But now it I am coming to terms with the concept of letting it go.
Robert Mitchell, I wonder how many people got that “Heavens No” reference.
Robert Mitchell, I’d like to buy your brother’s 240Z. I am a collector and currently restoring serial number 304. I would make a serious offer. If interested, please have him contact me. Thank you, Brad.
First, I don’t remember that style hubcap. Maybe it is because this car was purchased directly in Japan.
Second, that is a whole lot of money to pay for a stack of papers, because the car itself isn’t worth anywhere near that. There are many more cleaner examples for that money.
Thank you, Miguel.
Wheelcovers with a big “D” in the middle sounds right for a Japanese car not built for export. But you’re right they look like the clones that JC Whitney used to sell to replicate the stock wheel cover.
Little Cars, I don’t think Nissan would have used a cap with a D on it in Japan as they were called Nissan there.
Two styles from the early cars. Not sure which I see more of, and I’ve been a spectator at numerous Z-con and Nissan events.
The ones we’re most used to seeing in the States.
This appears to be the same person that listed it on BaT.
The sale must have fallen through.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-datsun-240z-30/
Lots of money for rust and dents. I bet there are a lot better deals out there.
Hey Barn-finders, this is Dave, the owner of this 1970, and not a quick flipper. The BaT high bidder fell through after 3 weeks of difficulty getting the necessary paperwork and transportation to bring it to Romania. My current asking price is my break-even number after performing the full mechanical restoration. I am letting the market dictate the value by including the *make-offer* option.
The state of the paint is what attracted me to take this project on. If this were a 911 or 356 we would all be losing our ever lovin’ minds over the notion of repainting it. The Z community is different, and I hope they embrace it.
These license plates are on all work orders starting in October of 1970 when it received its first dealership oil change in the states with 500 miles.
This car is turnkey and drives smooth and fast and I would not hesitate to drive it anywhere.
I have respect for a fellow member, I’m glad you chimed in. I’m sorry to hear that is your “break-even” price. I’d have to think you may take a bath on this, as there are many pristine 240’s for less. My kids live in L.A. so I’m well aware of the over inflated prices for cars out there. It’s as if they are milking that “California car” thing to the max. I’d like to have a Z car, but I couldn’t care less about “the Z community”,( like the FJ , or Bronco communities) who seem to be gradually jacking the prices up so non-Californians can’t enjoy them anymore. Maybe you can tell me, are people getting these prices for kind of a beater?( mechanical work notwithstanding) Sorry, just bums me out, that people seeing this, think all Z cars are worth this. Another one of my half baked ideas like the old pickup, I, like many others seeing this, might just forget the Z car altogether.